September 2020

El Reno High School’s football team will close out the non-district portion of its schedule Friday night as the Indians travel down Interstate 40 to play the Weatherford Eagles.

It’s the second game of a back-to-back road swing for El Reno, which played at Piedmont last week. It’s the only time this season the Indians will have away games on consecutive weeks.

The series with Weatherford was renewed for a two-year cycle this season after Chickasha opted to drop El Reno from its 2020 schedule.

At 2:30 a.m., when most people are home fast asleep, members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Farm and Ranch crew were busy preparing for the arrival of the tribes new additions to a growing buffalo herd.

In mid-August, the C&A received delivery of two buffalo bulls by way of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux tribal reservation in Montana.

The bulls began their lives at the Yellowstone National Park and were moved to Fort Peck instead of being slaughtered as part of a population control measure.

Sheriff Chris West said all but two of 24 inmates at the Canadian County Jail who tested positive for the coronavirus are now considered “fully recovered.”

Last week, West said 36 inmates had been tested earlier in August with 24 showing positive results for having contracted the virus. At that time, 16 inmates were moved to jails outside of the county, although only one person was considered symptomatic.

An inmate that was transferred from Oklahoma County became symptomatic and prompted other prisoners to be tested for COVID-19, the sheriff said.

A 12-year-old El Reno boy was killed when the vehicle he was traveling in collided with a pickup. The accident happened on U.S. 81, three miles south of Minco, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported.

The accident happened just before 11 a.m. Thursday at County Road 1220 on U.S. 81.

The OHP said a 2018 Ford F350 going north on U.S. 81 was being driven by Stephen B. Willmon, 48, of Chickasha. A 2013 Dodge Avenger driven by Carmen Garcia, 40, of El Reno was traveling south on 81.

Lake El Reno is open for business.

City officials announced the reopening of the lake Friday morning for all water activity after closing it Wednesday. The lake level had climbed to unsafe levels after heavy  rains on Monday and Tuesday.

More than 4 inches of rain fell in parts of the city.

But by Friday, the lake was said to be safe again for swimmers and boaters just in time for the long Labor Day weekend.

A new 18,500-square-foot corporate office building for Lucky Star Casino approaches the midway point of construction.

The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes broke ground for the corporate office building in 2019. It is located in Concho, near the Lucky Star Casino.

New Fire Native Design architectural firm, a Native-owned business located in Oklahoma City, designed the building, with Thompson Construction overseeing the construction.

Thompson Construction is owned by Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal citizen Rob Thompson.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Canadian County has been awarded a grant from the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) for more than $183,000. The grant is part of the organization’s Healthy Living program,

How the funds will be used will be determined from county and municipal health data, along with community feedback that will be used to customize a plan to tackle barriers associated with healthy eating, physical activity and tobacco use in high-risk areas in the county.

El Reno City Council will consider Tuesday evening issuing a special permit to the Southern Drag Boat Association for drag boat races to be held Sept. 25-27 at Lake El Reno. If approved, it will be the second such event on the lake this summer after July’s Smoke on the Water. It will be the SDBA’s first-ever event in El Reno.

El Reno High School’s softball team honored its three senior members last week in a ceremony before the start of the home game with Lawton MacArthur.

As tradition, El Reno also honored the three Highlander seniors on the visitors squad with flowers.

Webmasters’s Note: The picture’s cutline has been corrected.

SSM Health St. Anthony welcomes Sydney Haggins, MD, as a family medicine physician for men, women and children in El Reno and the surrounding areas.

Haggins will join the SSM Health Medical Group primary care practice at 2315 Parkview Drive alongside Anas Siddiqui, MD, and Robert DiCintio, PA.

“I couldn’t be more excited to join the team of Saints in Action here in El Reno,” Dr. Haggins said.